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SAP HANA CLOUD: Identity Management and Data Access Security

March 21, 2023

Identity Management and Data Access Security in SAP HANA Cloud

Data is an invaluable asset in today’s business landscape, and data security is equally crucial. Fortunately, the popular SAP HANA cloud software has its own set of security tools. Among others, these cover identity management and data access—key elements to ensure that only the right people can see or use your data.

Cloud security functionality can encrypt data to prevent access by unauthorized users. This encryption safeguards data that’s in use as well as data sitting in storage, thus protecting the entire data lifecycle.

The SAP HANA cloud also includes fine-grained access control features that assign individuals and groups of users to the correct IT resources. The system authenticates users to prevent wrongful data access. Furthermore, the software has the ability to “mask” data to hide sensitive information.

SAP HANA cloud has a range of tools for monitoring and logging information—all of which will help you find and handle security risks. Furthermore, the system receives frequent updates to keep ahead of potential threats. The goal of all these security tools is to protect the organization’s data and operations.

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User Management

The SAP HANA cloud helps businesses systematize how people interact with applications and data. For instance, there are user management tools that let administrators create or modify accounts, assign permissions to various resources, and group together multiple users. Moreover, user management facilities also help you track each account within the system—an important element for identifying any suspicious activity and preventing potential security violations.

SAP HANA cloud enforces restrictions to ensure that users don’t accidentally—or intentionally—gain access to confidential or classified information. It also protects users’ data against outside attacks.

Authentication and Authorization

Authentication and authorization are the key mechanisms by which the SAP HANA cloud protects data. These twin processes check possible data access attempts against the configuration your organization has approved. The system detects and blocks any unauthorized access—as well as contacting your administrators.

It’s these authentication and authorization methods that stand behind SAP HANA’s user management functionality. Users have certain rights, and actions outside of these rights are shut down.

The SAP HANA cloud hosts multiple specific “auth” technologies, such as OAuth 2.0 and SAML. These work to connect users with applications and data in a structured fashion. Additionally, there’s role-based access control and attribute-based access control—complementary approaches to determining which resources can be used.

Authenticating a user for several different applications—without duplicating efforts—is a common challenge. Single sign-on (SSO) handles this by uniting the logins. Once users log in to one system, they’re automatically logged into other systems.

Ensure that logins are resistant to compromise. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) addresses this by requiring two or more separate confirmations of a login, such as using a password and an e-mail confirmation. These added layers of defense limit the risk of sensitive data falling into the wrong hands.

All these different authentication and authorization processes work together to secure the SAP HANA cloud. As such, users and administrators have a high degree of confidence that their data is only accessed appropriately.

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Data Encryption

Data that’s not encrypted can be seen by whoever downloads it. By contrast, encrypted data is unusable by anyone other than the intended recipients, even if someone gains unauthorized access. Therefore, encryption functions as another critical layer of defense.

The SAP HANA cloud uses enterprise-quality data encryption throughout all their storage—by default. The widely-recognized Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is a benchmark that’s used by the US Government, among others. AES has undergone extensive testing and is an extremely reliable way to protect your information.

In addition to AES, SAP HANA software supports popular encryption protocols such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and its successor, Transport Layer Security (TLS). These features are able to conceal data from prying eyes in practically any context. Information traveling over the web, through e-mails or along other routes, can only be used by those holding the correct key.

The SAP HANA cloud also employs hardware-based encryption devices, adding an additional element of security. This purpose-made equipment serves to strengthen the process of encrypting and storing data. Related features mask—or “tokenize”—information to control who can see what.

Data Masking and Storage

It’s not uncommon for an organization to have data that needs to be easily accessible, but at the same time requires being hidden, for the most part. For example, a business may need to store customer payment information, yet only make this available to employees at particular times. Data masking helps accomplish this purpose.

With the SAP HANA cloud, you can mask sensitive data in real time. Data is either shown or hidden on the basis of who’s using the system and which permissions that user has. Thus, there’s less chance of someone seeing data who shouldn’t.

Secure storage complements data masking. Using the aforementioned hardware encryption, businesses can deploy data to locations where it’s tightly controlled. The secure key management of the system lets authorized users—and no one else—handle the data.

Together, these features minimize the risk of intruders gaining access to your data. The SAP HANA cloud encompasses a mature enterprise technology that’s able to stand up to the unprecedented attacks now facing IT assets. Given the currently massive financial reliance on data, it’s imperative to choose a trustworthy platform.

Secure Your Data in SAP HANA Cloud

Data has become the lifeblood of the modern enterprise—and it’s one of the most vital assets for business to secure. Identity management and data access security help to safeguard data, making sure that it’s under strict control and only available to authorized users.

In addition to user management and authentication, an enterprise software platform should employ the latest encryption standards. Features such as dynamic data masking and hardware-based secure storage round out the functionality that’s essential for keeping information where it belongs.

SAP HANA cloud addresses all these needs in a fast and reliable package. Globally, large organizations know they can entrust their mission-critical data to the SAP HANA cloud solution. This is where Approyo—the leading full SAP service provider—can help you achieve your data security goals. Contact us now to learn more about our key security, cloud-centric features.

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